


A Dog's Life #5

by ReidFan



Series: A Dog's Life [5]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 15:31:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15146177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReidFan/pseuds/ReidFan
Summary: fifth in a series of glimpses into the life of Roxy Alvez, the Belgian Malinois dog who owns Luke Alvez. Reid gets into trouble. Roxy tries to help.





	A Dog's Life #5

A Dog’s Life #5

 

A CM fanfiction

Rated K

Roxy, Reid, Garcia

 

As always, big shout out and thanks to Aut for the careful beta and story input!

 

 

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         “You are _so_ lucky, Wunderkind. Extra long weekend for you. But I have to go in today because serial killers don’t take a day off,” Penelope Garcia complained good-naturedly as she gathered up her things and grabbed her keys from the small table in the front hallway of Luke Alvez’ apartment. Spencer Reid, like all the students and professors at the university, was off for the entire long weekend and he’d been looking forward to the opportunity to do absolutely nothing.

 

         From his reclined position on the living room sofa, Reid snapped his newspaper shut, set it quickly on the coffee table and rose to his feet.

 

         “Want me to come with you?” he offered without a trace of hesitance in his voice. Garcia wasn’t fooled.

 

         Heaving a deep sigh, she reminded him, “You’re on what, day twenty-six of your thirty?” He nodded and shaking her head, she continued, “Enjoy the long, long weekend, My Genius. You’ll be on Roxy duty until I get back.”

 

         She stooped to pat the dog on the head and told Roxy to behave for Reid, then kissed her fingers and blew the kiss towards Reid, “And you be good, too!”

 

         He laughed and shook his head as she opened the front door and left, not hearing as she added under her breath, “While the rest of us work our butts off, that is.”

 

         Reid and Roxy watched as Penelope climbed into Esther, her car, and drove away. Once she was out of sight, Reid brushed his fingers through the ruff around Roxy’s neck and asked her,

 

         “So, what kind of trouble should we get into today, Rox?”

 

         _We? Getting into trouble is your department! I’m in search and rescue, Reid!_ Roxy barked at him.

 

She padded along behind him as he walked into Luke’s bedroom and grabbed his go bag from the floor. He and Garcia had virtually moved into Alvez’ apartment to be Roxy’s caregivers while Luke was away on assignment.

 

Reid had taken Luke’s bedroom, and Penelope had set up in the spare bedroom. They’d both left the bedroom doors open at night to allow Roxy the full run of the apartment since they weren’t sure if Roxy was used to sleeping in a specific spot at night. She’d napped during the day in various places around the apartment in the four days they’d been here and thus far had slept at Reid’s feet one night, _on_ Reid’s feet one night and on the floor next to Garcia the third night.

 

He found the sweat pants and t-shirt he wanted in the bag and quickly changed into those. Rifling through the bag, he cursed that he couldn’t find sport socks and instead chose the softest, thickest dress socks he came across.

 

Frowning, he told the socks, “I’ll settle for you, I suppose,” and pulled them on. He had to look for his sneakers, finally finding them under the bed and having no idea how they got there.

 

“Roxy, did you put these under the bed?”

 

She tilted her head and gave him a look. _What would I want with your stinky shoes!? They probably wouldn’t taste good either._ When he laughed, she gave a short bark and sat down next to the bed.

 

He sat on the bed and pulled the shoes on, tied them and then stood up.

 

“Wanna go for a run, Rox? I don’t run much so take the opportunity when it presents itself.”

 

Roxy barked her approval and Reid bent to take his phone from its charger. He realised the sweat pants had no pockets and chuckled.

 

“Guess this is staying here then,” he replaced the phone in its cradle on the night table, next to his watch and eyeglasses, and made his way to the front door. Roxy’s leash was hanging on a hook there and he grabbed it. Snapping it in place on Roxy’s collar, he opened the apartment door. Roxy followed him out, he closed and locked the door, put the key inside his left shoe and then the two of them set out for the local park.

 

They ran together, jogging about half a mile to the nearby park. Once there, Reid let Roxy off the leash and let her run ahead. Roxy knew not to get too far ahead of the slower running Reid.

 

 _This is wonderful!_ Roxy thought as she ran through the soft grass. Butterflies and other flying insects streamed upwards as she dislodged them from tall grasses and wildflowers and she paused to sniff at a gopher hole. A few hundred feet away to the right was a small, forested area in which Luke often let her run. She turned back to check on Reid’s progress. He was fifty feet or so behind her and once she’d checked in with him, he’d motioned for her to go on ahead once again.

 

“Damn, I should’ve brought water,” he admonished himself.

 

Roxy trotted towards the forest area hoping Reid would take the hint and veer off in that direction. He was still running a straight line, staying along the groomed trail. Roxy met up with him again and barked, and then ran off to the right once more.

 

 _Come on Reid, this way! I wanna go down to the water and get a drink!_ She reached the top of the ravine and waited and happily noted that Reid had adjusted his course and was coming in her direction now.

 

 _Yes, yes!_  Roxy barked excitedly and raced back and forth along the top of the ravine. She could see the pond at the bottom of the ravine and could barely contain her excitement at the prospect of a drink. _And a swim! I can go swimming too!_

Reid caught up with her and together they made their way down the embankment to the pond. Roxy put one paw in the water and bent down to get a drink.

 

Spencer waited while she lapped at the water and then turned to him. _Can I jump in? Is it okay if I swim?_ She barked and he knew she was asking him something.

 

“What is it, Rox?”

 

She let out one more bark and pawed the water.

 

“You wanna go in?” _YES!_ She barked. He laughed, “Well, go ahead girl,” he told her. He waited by the side of the pond while she paddled around for a few minutes then scrambled out beside him.

 

“Cooling off, girl?” he asked her, totally unprepared for what happened next. Planting her paws firmly she braced herself for a moment and then shook vigorously, showering Reid in the process. Taken completely by surprise, he stepped away from her, tripped over the uneven ground and fell, hitting his head on the large rocks lining the banks of the pond.

 

Reid pushed himself up, supporting his weight on his right hand. He moaned in pain, bringing his left hand up to the side of his head. When he drew them back to look, his fingers were covered with blood. He struggled to his knees and then his vision blurred. Roxy barked and it sounded far away but he could feel her licking at his face.

 

“Oh,” he heard a faint moan, then just as he realised it was his own voice, he lost consciousness and pitched forward into the pond.

 

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“Well that’s weird,” Garcia commented as she set aside one of her cellphones and returned her attention to the computer screen in front of her.

 

The team had been sent to Denver, Colorado on a case and she was waiting by her computer, ready to do any investigation they required. She’d already replied to the text Alvez had sent her earlier and was now wondering why Reid wasn’t replying to her texts to him. Four texts in two hours and he hadn’t answered her. It was unlike Reid to not at least acknowledge them, even if he was otherwise occupied, but there was no indication he’d even received them.

 

She tried not to worry. But this was Reid. It was impossible to not worry. Garcia sighed, picked up the iPhone and checked it again. _Nope. Still no replies. Still no verification of receipt._

 

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Reid was submerged from waist up in the pond; his lower torso and legs sprawled apart on the rocks. Roxy sprang into immediate action. She barked feverishly but Reid didn’t answer her. _Of course not! His mouth and ears are in the water!_ Jumping in, Roxy grabbed at Reid’s shirt and pulled, using the buoyancy of the water to help her move him. Her front legs paddled furiously as she tugged Reid out of the water with her snout. When her rear legs touched bottom, she scrambled ashore, dragging the unconscious man along. Once she had firm land under her back paws, she released her hold on his shirt and instead gently held his left arm in her jaws and pulled. The momentum rolled Reid over onto his back and Roxy continued to drag him until she had him lying on the rocks by the shore. One arm was still in the water but Roxy didn’t think that mattered. _He can breathe now, he can hear now. Wake up! Wake up!_ She barked.

 

When he didn’t respond, Roxy decided on more drastic measures. _I know you hate when I lick your face and I’m not supposed to do it, but you have to wake up!_ She stopped barking and instead set about thoroughly licking Reid’s face.

 

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A knock on her office door drew Garcia out of her reverie and she called out,

 

“Come on in, it’s open.”

 

A clerk from the mailroom downstairs entered the office bearing a box. Garcia’s eyebrows rose.

 

“It’s for SSA Dr. Spencer Reid, but he’s not at his desk.”

 

“No, he’s on a thirty day assignment at the university right now, but you can leave that here if you like. I’ll lock it up in this office when I leave tonight and give it to him when he’s back on Tuesday.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Or I can take it home to him tonight, if you want.”

 

“That’d be great, thanks,” the clerk replied, nodding and taking his leave.

 

Garcia rose to satisfy her curiosity. She knew that the package would have been thoroughly checked out by the security people before being allowed to proceed to Reid. Peeking at the label, Garcia’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

 

It was addressed to Roxy, in care of Spencer Reid. Checking the return address, Garcia broke into a smile. It was from the Brightons, the family of little Olivia whom Roxy and Reid had rescued in the woods a week earlier. After Security was done with the package, they had resealed it and forwarded it.

 

Garcia’s brow furrowed. “The suspense is gonna kill me. What’s _in_ this? And why did they address it to Reid?” The answer occurred to her almost as soon as she’d asked the question. The Brightons assumed Roxy was Reid’s dog, they didn’t know about Alvez. Garcia picked the box up was surprised by how heavy it was.

 

“Whoa,” she said in surprise and set it back down on the desk. Retaking her chair, she picked up her iPhone and texted Reid again, letting him know of the package’s arrival.

 

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“Ohh-uhhh” Reid groaned and his eyes fluttered open as regained consciousness and moved his head slowly from side to side. He felt Roxy’s hot breath on his face, yet he was shivering with cold. The dog was licking his face, he realised and his head rolled to one side again. A dull ache throbbed across his temple; a sudden fit of coughing exacerbated his pain. Roxy stopped licking for a moment. _Oh good! You’re breathing! Are you okay? Can you get up?_  She let out a series of barks and observed as Reid winced. He raised his left hand to his temple and felt the wetness there. At the same time, he realised his other hand was still in the water and with great effort he raised his right arm from the pond, dropping it down on his chest. He closed his eyes and released another pain filled groan before once again falling quiet.

 

Alarmed by his silence, Roxy resumed licking his face, whining intermittently. _Please wake up Spencer! He was breathing,_ she determined, _but he wasn’t moving much. Is this bad? There’s blood on his head. But he’s breathing. But he’s not moving. Should I stay here? Should I get human help?_

Reid’s head lolled from side to side, his eyes flickered open and shut again almost immediately. Roxy barked at him. _Can I leave you to go get another human? Do you want me to stay?_ Once again his eyes opened, in response to the dog’s concerned barking.

 

“Rox—“ he said in a voice barely a whisper. He tried to reach across his chest to pat her but lacked the strength. His hand fell to his side. “Oh,” he murmured and his eyes closed again.

 

Roxy stopped barking. She saw his chest rise and fall and knew he was breathing normally. There was blood on his head but the cut there did not appear to be bleeding further. She bent her head down and licked his face again, carefully avoiding the bloodied spot.

 

Noting that he didn’t react to her attentions, Roxy stopped licking. She looked up the ravine’s slope to the top and then down at Reid and made a decision. Her leash lay on the ground beside Reid. Roxy picked it up in her teeth and headed up the embankment. Choosing her way carefully, she made her way to the top and raced across the park towards the entrance. She knew better than to run on the street, staying on the sidewalk until she made her way back to Alvez’ apartment building. The front gate was closed and Roxy trotted back and forth along the length of the perimeter fence until she found someone. The building superintendent was putting some empty trash bins back into their storage shed. He heard barking and turned around.

 

“Roxy! Roxy Alvez! What are you doing on the other side of the fence?” he asked, shutting the shed door and walking towards the dog. He reached the fence and motioned for her to follow along from the outside to the gate.

 

“Come here, girl,” he encouraged as she took a few reluctant steps in the direction he indicated and then walked determinedly away.

 

 _Follow me! Follow me Roberto!_ She barked. He reached the gate and opened it and called to Roxy repeatedly but the dog was not cooperating. She would take two or three steps towards him and then she’d stop and bark again and head off in the opposite direction.

 

Roberto knew that Alvez was away and Roxy was currently being doggysat by a pair of Luke’s coworkers. He wondered for a moment if one of them had mistakenly let the dog out but dismissed that thought as soon as it occurred to him. Roberto had met both Reid and Garcia and knew they both were intelligent and completely trustworthy. Alvez would not leave his precious mutt with anyone who wasn’t completely responsible. Roxy was a retired service dog. Roberto knew she had extensive training and noted that she was carrying her own leash in her mouth.

 

“Is there trouble, Roxy?” he asked her, his voice showing mounting concern. He closed the gate behind him and followed her. “Show me, Roxy, show me.”

 

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Reid started to regain consciousness and opened his eyes, surveying his surroundings. As his mind cleared, he remembered what happened and was alarmed to see Roxy had left him. If he lost Luke’s dog, neither Garcia nor Alvez would ever forgive him.

 

“Aw Roxy. Roxy, where’d you go?” He swore under his breath. “If anything happened to you—“

 

Struggling to his knees, he began the grueling task of crawling up the embankment. His hands were covered with dirt, he had cuts and scratches on both hands and knees but he persevered. Fighting the pain in his head, he followed the same path up the hill as he’d come down earlier, the progress painfully slow. His track pants were worn through, each crawling step enlarging the holes in the knees and scraping the skin beneath.

 

Having lost track of time, Reid neither had any idea how long ago it was they’d left the apartment nor how long ago Roxy had…left him, he realised. _She’s search and rescue, military trained. Roxy isn’t going to be dognapped by anyone._

 

“She went for help,” he reasoned aloud, wasting precious breath. A wave of pain across his head caused him to pause his ascent and he sat back on his heels for a moment, shutting his eyes against the pain and catching his breath. He shivered again with cold despite the fact that it was a warm summer day. With fresh resolve, he resumed his trek uphill. Without his watch he could only guess, but he estimated in half an hour, he’d progressed about fifty feet. Looking back towards the pond and then up to the hill’s summit, he surmised he’d made it about half way.

 

“Roxy!” he called as loudly as he could, though the volume of his call was barely above ‘whisper’. He waited for a moment in case there was a reply and hearing no response, continued his journey. Finally, after what seemed like several hours but was in reality less than one, he arrived at the top of the ravine. Feeling somewhat more steady and confident on the flatter terrain, he rose to his feet and began walking towards the park’s proper trail. It was about a hundred yards away and knowing he was closer to safety gave him renewed strength and resolve. He found that standing and walking upright, his vision was less blurred and his balance better. Minutes later, he joined the park trail and was somewhat surprised to find there was no activity. He wondered if it was a school day but he couldn’t remember what day it was. _Dammit I do have a concussion,_ he thought; a thought that was immediately followed with another, _It can’t be that bad if I can think of that._ He shook off those thoughts and had another one. _There’s only a couple hundred yards to go, it won’t be too much longer._

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Roberto followed Roxy along the sidewalk and saw the park coming up ahead of them. She had dropped the leash at his feet once he’d taken up following her and he was carrying it as he proceeded along behind her. Now, as they neared Roxy’s apparent destination, a realisation occurred to Roberto.

 

“We’re going to your park, aren’t we, girl?” Roberto asked.

 

Without breaking her pace at all, Roxy turned her head and gave a few short barks. _YES!_ _Let’s go, let’s go, Reid is hurt!_

She had been content, at first that he’d established he was to follow her, but now her cause seemed urgent. Roxy’s pace quickened and Roberto had to run to keep up with her.

 

“Roxy!” He picked up his own pace and hurried after her. Once into the park, the dog broke into a run, intent on returning to Reid as soon as possible. She was careful to keep within Roberto’s eyesight and barked continually as she ran, stopping briefly when she reached a spot where the trail turned sharply off to the right. Roberto rounded the bend in the path and as soon as man and dog reestablished sight lines, Roxy started to run again.

 

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He heard barking. He was sure it was barking and even surer it was Roxy. Still making his way laboriously along the trail, Reid paused for a moment to call the dog’s name. A moment later, he was nearly overrun by the Malinois who’d reached him.

 

“Roxy!” Dropping to his skinned knees, he praised her, “Good girl, good girl! Am I glad to see you!”

 

She licked his face and he grimaced but allowed it anyway. Roxy pawed at his thighs, and emitted a few short barks. Despite the pain in his knees and head, he was ecstatic and grateful to see the dog and petted her profusely about her neck and head.

 

“Reid? Spencer Reid, is that you?”

 

Reid interrupted his lavish praising of Roxy when he heard his name and looked up and around. He saw a man approaching from some twenty yards away and blinked several times to clear his vision. He seemed familiar, and this was confirmed when Roxy left him to go and greet the approaching man, her tail wagging wildly.

 

“It’s me, Roberto. I’m Luke’s building super.” He took a few steps closer, having to avoid stepping on Roxy, and taking in the bedraggled, muddy sight of Reid, “Man, what the hell happened to you?!”

 

Redoubling his pace, he ran the last few yards towards Reid, pulling his cellphone from his pocket as he did so.

 

“I fell,” Reid told him, recognising the man. He reached out, putting his hand over the other man’s to stop Roberto from calling 9-1-1. “And Roxy went to get help.”

 

Taking Reid’s arm to support him, Roberto peppered Spencer with questions. “Are you all right? Did you hit your head? I’m gonna take you to the hospital.”

 

Reid shook his head ‘no’ at the last statement as he walked alongside Roberto. “I’m okay. I fell and as you can see, I wrecked my pants and hurt my knees.”

 

He wasn’t going to tell Roberto about being knocked unconscious or landing in the pond. “I decided not to wait for her and started crawling my way back up the ravine. It hurt to stand on it, so I thought maybe I’d sprained an ankle or something. That’s why I was crawling,” he panted as he walked, still dealing with the pain in his knees and his head, but not wanting to let Roberto know this. “But obviously,” he indicated his legs, and pointed out he was walking fairly normally, “that isn’t the case. I’m fine.”

 

Roberto looked at him skeptically. “Your shirt is wet and bloody. There’s blood pooled around your head.” Roberto reached into a pocket, found a tissue and touched Reid’s temple with it. The cut had stopped bleeding but Roberto was still wary. “You fell.”

 

“Uh huh.”

 

Roberto made a face and addressed Roxy, “And you thought you had to run all the way back to the apartment because he,” he jerked a thumb in Reid’s direction, “ _fell.”_

 

Roxy barked _He’s not telling you everything! He hit his head! He went in the water snout first! I was so worried!_

“Seems Roxy’s telling me more than you are,” Roberto accused.

 

Reid sighed, pausing a moment, “Okay, look. I’m clumsy. I tripped over a rock and fell. Probably scraped my head while I was crawling back up the ravine.”

 

“Uh huh. But your shirt is completely wet and your pants are muddy too. You fell into the pond, didn’t you?”

 

Roxy barked her confirmation at Roberto’s deductions.

 

Sighing again, Reid replied, “You sure you’re not a detective?” He nodded and confessed, “You’re right, I fell into the pond. But it’s just water. I’m okay.”

 

Still dubious of Reid’s status, Roberto made a face but played along. “Well let’s get you home for now anyway.”

 

Roxy trotted along in front of them as they made their way back to the apartment building. When they reached Luke’s door, Spencer bent down to remove the key from his shoe.

 

Roberto stifled a laugh that died on his lips a split second later as Reid faltered trying to straighten back up. He grabbed Reid’s arm to support him and took the key from him. After opening the door, he helped Reid into the kitchen and had him sit down on a stool. Roberto knew Alvez had a first aid kit in the bottom drawer by the kitchen sink and he stepped over to the drawer to retrieve it.

 

“Are you sure I can’t take you to the hospital? Or at least to the doctor?” He asked, as he rummaged through the first aid kit.

 

“I am a doctor,” Reid told him, skirting the truth about his degrees. “I just need to clean up, I’m fine.”

 

Roberto dabbed at Reid’s temple with a gauze pad and some hydrogen peroxide. Spencer winced as the solution did its work and Roberto surveyed the cleaned wound. It had long since stopped bleeding and now, with the area wiped clean, he could see that no stitches would be necessary. “Gonna have a nice bruise here though, Spencer.”

 

Under Roxy’s close supervision, he continued his ministrations on Reid’s knees, which caused more grimacing on Spencer’s part but in a matter of minutes, the scraped knees were cleaned of debris and covered with _Neosporin_ and bandages.

 

Roberto put the kettle on and tidied up the first aid supplies while they waited for the water to boil. He made tea and Reid indicated where Roxy’s dog biscuits were kept, letting Roberto reward her with one. As they sat in the kitchen drinking tea and talking about what a good dog Roxy was, Reid could hear his phone ringing. Cyndi Lauper’s _Girls Just Wanna Have Fun_ sounded from Luke’s bedroom and Reid smiled. Garcia was calling him. She’d have to leave a message, he decided, not moving from his perch in the kitchen.

 

Roxy barked at them. _I want another cookie. Can I have another cookie? It’s hard work running back and forth rescuing Reid from the trouble he gets into._ She lapped at her water bowl, emptying it and then wandered to the refrigerator and stood in front of it expectantly. One more bark and then she sat down, tail thumping the floor.

 

Finally, Reid got the message and slid down off the chair. He walked without help and bent to pick up Roxy’s water bowl. After filling it and replacing it on the floor beside her food bowl, he took the empty tea mugs from the kitchen table and put them in the dishwasher. Roberto took the hint and rose from the chair he’d been occupying.

 

“You’re absolutely sure you’re okay and don’t wanna see a doctor?”

 

Nodding, Reid reassured him once again, and practically pushed the caring superintendent out the apartment door. Roxy followed him to the bedroom. She barked a question as they entered the room.

 

_Oh, I hope this means it’s naptime! I love to sleep on Master Luke’s bed. Maybe Reid will let me sleep there too?_

 

Reid picked up his phone and laughed. He had forty text messages and six missed calls. Pulling up the menu, he bit his lip when he discovered that all forty texts and four of the six calls were from Garcia.

 

“Oh no,” he lamented. He really wanted to take a shower and briefly debated doing so before returning Garcia’s calls but quickly dismissed that idea. “I’ll end up with a hundred text messages,” he muttered.

 

“I better call her,” he said aloud.

 

 _Yes, you should,_ Roxy barked. _And you better tell her what happened!_

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An hour later, Roxy stood by the front window, tail wagging wildly when she saw Esther arrive in the parking lot outside the fence. Garcia alighted and came through the gate, arriving at the front door seconds later.

 

 _She’s home! She’s home!_ Roxy told Reid, racing to the front door to greet her when it opened.

 

“Roxy! Darling doggy! How was your day?” Garcia set down the box she was carrying and stooped to pet her.

 

_I’m great! But Reid fell and got wet and hurt his head and he won’t go to the vet._

Her brow furrowed and she commented, “Roxy, girl, I swear I hear annoyance in your tone of bark.” Penelope rose and made her way into the living room, Roxy on her heels. Reid was just getting up from the sofa, his head was still bent down as Garcia spotted him and she started to speak as he straightened up.

 

         “So you actually went jogging to—oh my god, what the hell happened to you?”

 

         “It’s nothing, Penelope. I fell.” He was wearing clean dress pants, the dressings on his knees weren’t visible and Garcia could only mean the _Band-Aid_ on his temple. He gestured at the spot and said, “Just banged my head when I fell. It’s nothing. Really.”

 

         Roxy tilted her head and rolled her eyes. _He’s not gonna tell her he was in the water._

“Okay,” Garcia replied skeptically. “If you say so, Boy Wonder.” Shaking her head a little, she remembered the box and said “Oh! Yes, I almost forgot. Come with me!” Indicating he should follow, she returned to the apartment door and pointed out the box. “This came to the office for you today.”

 

         Reid walked behind her, painstakingly hiding the ache in his knees from her. “It’s addressed to Roxy!” he noted.

 

         Together they took the box into the living room and Roxy trotted along behind them. Reid pulled off the tape and opened the box.

 

         “Wow, look! He pulled out a beautiful pink ceramic photo frame that had ‘Roxy’ emblazoned in black along the top. Handing it to Garcia, he reached into the box and found an envelope. Inside was a thank you letter from the Brighton family. He read it and his eyes misted over.

 

         “What is it, Spencer?” Garcia asked softly.

 

         He handed her the letter and continued to unpack the box.

 

         “Look, Roxy!” He held the box up for her.

 

         _Oh wow! Cookies! That smells like COOKIES!_

         Unable to resist, Reid opened the box and gave the happy dog one of the gourmet dog biscuits.

 

         “This is a lovely letter,” Garcia sniffled, handing it back to Reid.

 

         He nodded agreement and responded, “I’m gonna hafta call them though and let them know Roxy is _Luke’s_ dog, not mine. He should take the credit for her temperament and training.” He was still going through the box’s contents and brought out a few dog toys. “Oh, look, Roxy! You’re gonna love this!”

 

         He tossed the fabric _Frisbee_ to her and she caught it neatly and walked away with her new prize.

 

         Another small envelope caught his eye and he slid open the flap. Inside was a pair of gift cards, also addressed to Roxy. One was for a year’s worth of treatments at a DC dog spa and the other was for a photo session at a studio. The accompanying note asked that Spencer and Penelope be present for the picture taking.

 

         “Jason Brighton is a photographer, Penelope. He wants us to book a session with Roxy and he says little Livy will be there for the photo too.”

 

         They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Garcia went to answer it and was gone for what seemed to Reid to be a long time. He grew concerned and looked at Roxy who was still engrossed with her new toys and unfazed by Garcia’s apparent absence.

 

         As Reid decided to go investigate, Garcia reappeared in the living room and she wasn’t alone. Roberto was standing beside her.

 

         “So, when were you going to tell me that you fell and hit your head and landed in the pond? And that Roxy went to find help?” Garcia complained.

 

         He gulped guiltily. Roberto explained, “She” indicating Garcia with a hand gesture, “had to know. You might have a concussion.” His cellphone beeped and he looked at it. “I have to go,” he told them and turned to leave. After the door shut behind him, Garcia turned on Reid.

 

         “Roberto wanted to take you to the hospital. And you told him you were a doctor!”

 

         “I am—“ he started lamely.

 

         “Oh no, not that again. It didn’t work last time and it won’t wash this time either, mister.”

 

         “I’m okay and I didn’t want to worry you,” Reid put his hands up in a conciliatory gesture, hoping to forestall whatever admonishment Garcia intended to deliver.

 

         “You know how I—“

 

         “I’m sorry, Penelope. Really, it’s nothing. I didn’t want to you to worry about me.”

 

         “I will always worry about you, Spencer. It’s my nature.”

 

         Relenting, she took one of his hands and they walked together back to the box. Roxy lay on the floor beside them, chewing on another of the dog toys she’d been given.

 

         Reid removed one last envelope, a large manila one that had been lying at the bottom of the box. He opened it and scanned its contents.

 

         “Hey, look, Penelope. It’s a pamphlet from a company in Alexandria that does micro chipping for pets. And this is a gift certificate,” he waved the item in question for Garcia’s benefit “for one of their special edition microchips. It’s got a GPS chip embedded in it.”

 

         “Oh how nice!” Penelope replied. She blinked as a thought occurred to her and then said, “I wonder if they’d fit _you_ with it, instead of Roxy.”

 

         _Now that’s the smartest thing I’ve heard any of you say all day_ Roxy woofed.

 

                                                                                             fin 

 

        

 

 


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